Pagina's

Tuesday, 15 May 2012

Dutch ancestors

I joined Twitter a little over a year ago. Much of my focus was and is on genealogical subjects. During the first nine months of that period I have been running the twitter account of the NGV, the Dutch Genealogical Society. At a certain point I also started a private account but that one was hacked. So I transformed it to the one I still have today: @patmcast. Therefore, I follow a lot of fellow genealogists, archives and other professionals involved in pedigree related subjects. Since the Dutch have a longstanding tradition of establishing themselves all over the world, there are a lot of people with Dutch roots. And many a time I can tell by their surname that their ancestors came from the low countries.

In the course of that twittering year I ran into a number of bloggers with surnames which were clearly of Dutch descent. I have been in contact with some of them to tell them hopefully interesting tidbits about their surname of interest.

But that number of surnames keeps on growing. So I decided to put them all together so that I know who is interested in what. At the same time it may be interesting to know for bloggers that there are people in their own country fishing in the same pond.

Also, if there are newsworthy things to report about interesting genealogical developments here in The Netherlands, I will let you know through this blog. So if you want to keep track of this, please follow my blog using Google Friend Connect. Or follow me on Twitter.

It is obvious that this survey is not complete. So if you know of a missing blog, please let me know.

All information you see in this post, is copied from the relevant blog. So I assume nothing is confidential.

Sometimes I have assumed that a surname is of Dutch descent because to me that was obvious. But I have been known to be wrong here. Some German surnames resemble Dutch names. The same goes for surnames from Belgium. Some surnames appear in all three countries. So there is room to err...

Today there are 107 foreign blogs shown in this post with a total of 392Dutch descendant surnames. At the end there is an update section. There you can see which blogs have been added recently.

In case you want to consult a Dutch genealogical data base I can recommend WieWasWie (WhoWasWho). It is by far the most comprehensive one and available in English as well. I wrote a post explaining the use this site.

In this post the surname Timmer appears twice. Below is a picture of speed skating Olympic Gold Medal winner Marianne Timmer and famous soccer goalie Henk Timmer. They were not related, until they got married!

49 comments:

Thank you so much for putting this list together. While I have documents putting my ancestors in Utrecht, I have a strong belief that they may have had their origins in the Alsace-Lorraine area. Only time and good research will uncover the truth!

Laura, thanks for yr reaction. I had a quick look at the Wersel name in Utrecht and the only thing noteworthy I found is the death of a Louisa Jacoba Wicart on 3/15/1828. She was married to Andries Wersel. The only thing I can say about this is that the name 'Wicart' definitely does not sound Dutch. If anything it sounds French. It would support your assumption somewhat.In any case, I'll keep yr message in the back of my mind.

Peter,Thank you for putting this list together. What a great idea! I have not done a lot of research on my Van Meter line before 1850 but family lore has them arriving in New Jersey in the late 1600's. I hope to some day document that!I enjoyed looking at your blog and will visit again!Thank you!

Cindy,I went thru my cd-rom archive to see whether I have a reference to the Van Meter surname. I found a review of a periodical by the name of The Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey. In Volume XXXIII, numbers 1/2. Jan./April 1958 there is an article by Edward J. Raser. It deals with the records of the Dutch Congregations of Freehold and Middletown. In that article the following surnames are mentioned: Provoste, van Pelt, van Dyn, Wykhoof, Snyder, Zutphen, Schenck,van Kerk, van der Bylt, van Meter, van Mater, van Brunt, Covenhoven, Van Cleef,Voorhees, Hyer, van Noortwijk, enz.)The review does not mention a year for these records. Can you get hold of this periodical, in a library perhaps? Or via http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~njgsnj/genmag.htmlPossibly you are aware of the above. Otherwise I hope it is of some use to you. Succes!

Peter,Thank you so much! No I'm not aware of the periodical you mention. I will see if I can read it through both the sources you suggested. I'm anxious to see the information it may have!Thank you again for your time researching my surname!My best to you,Cindy

@Jana,You told me that you are not aware of any Dutch connection re yr Waterman ancestors. A quick look in a Dutch database (www.genlias.nl) reveals the christening of a Sarah Waterman in Nieuw Amsterdam (NYC) on 3/17/1784. Her parents are Jedediah Waterman and Hannah van Zandt. In yr [Jana´s Genealogy and Family History] blog I read that there is a Waterman/Mayflower connection. A number of the Mayflower people made an intermediate stop in Leiden, The Netherlands. That stop lasted several years. So may be there is something to be found in that direction.Please note the Van Zandt name is also mentioned as a Dutch name in the first blog of my list: Ancestrally Challenged.

I have an ancestor who came to Massachusetts in the 1820s, as a stowaway on a ship bound for the ropewalk in Salem. He was on a ship full of hemp out of Rotterdam. His name was Peter Hoogerzeil (Hogerzeil in the Netherlands). I have a bit of information on the surname, but not on the maiden names associated with this family: Ooms, Van der Ham, Schout[en], Lekkerkerk, Ockers. They mostly lived near Dordrecht and Krimpen aan de Lek. I have some stories about the Hoogerzeils on my blog www.nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com

Heather,Thank you for letting me know about your Dutch ancestry. Travelling as a stowaway to a world that is completely unknown to you, it must have been quite an enterprise, certainly in those days! Here the Hoogerzeil name exists both with oo and a single o. Minor, and sometimes not so minor differences in the spelling were no exception in the early part of the 19th century. I'll "advertise" the existence of this post as much as I can both on Twitter and on well known Dutch genealogy forums. Hopefully useful contacts will be made.Wishing you a lot of succes!

Hi Peter,I love this idea of yours. In addition to my Van Woert (listed above), I also have; DOUW, HUYCK, OOTHOUT, RINKHOUT, VAN ANGLEN, VAN DUYN, VAN NESS, VAN NUYSE, VAN WICKLEN, VROOM and WYCKOFF. Thank you for posting these. When I went through my list, I saw that I have a good number of German and French...I really thought they were Dutch! However, the once above are. Thank you. My blog is at http://lifefromtheroots.blogspot.com/http://lifefromtheroots.blogspot.com/

I'd like to be added. My surname is Huigens. I have one great-great-grandfather who was from the Netherlands. His first name was Evert, but I'm not exactly sure how he spelled his surname. My great-grandfather used Huigens and his brother used Haugens. My blog is Family History Nuggets at http://familyhistorynuggets.blogspot.com/

Your name Huigens has been added to the list. Huigens is a well known name here but it is also written as Huijgens and Huygens. I have seen that the first name Evert appears in Utrecht in the first part of the 19th century in connection with the surname Huygens. Hope you will be contacted by a Dutch Huigens descendant.

I was pleased to learn that I have a great deal of Dutch in my ancestry. All came to Nieuw Amsterdam in the 1600s and I'm always interested in learning more about them. I do not have a relevant blog, but my website is www.doriswheeler.org. Surnames include Cool/Kohl (see Van Ceulen), de Cram, Dircx, Gardenier, Hendrickse, Jans, Carstensen, Ostrander, Metzelaer, Osteroom, Reiniers, Roosa, Van Amersfoort, Van Bloemendahl, Van Ceulen, Van Etten, Van Salee.

Thank you for leaving a comment here and thank you also for following my blog.Pse allow me to ask you a question. You mention the names Osteroom and Ostrander. These names do not sound Dutch. Also they do not appear in one of the largest databases here (www.genlias.nl). Are you certain they are Dutch? If so, of course I'll add them to the list.In your website http://southworth-southard.blogspot.com/ the name Southard appears. There is a connection with the city of Leyden (Leiden). Do you want me to add that name as well? In the earlier mentioned database there is the marriage in Nieuw Amsterdam (NYC) of Marij Southard and Benjamin Waldron on 2/27/1795.I.s.o. of www.doriswheeler.org do you mind if I show http://southworth-southard.blogspot.com/ in my list together with all your other Dutch names?Looking forward to your reply,Kind regards,Peter

Thank you for checking, Peter. As to Ostrom/Oostroom, this is what I have for my immigrant ancestor Hendrick Jansen Oosteroom: "aka van Schalckwyck, 'afterwards called Ostrom, van Oosteroom and van Ostrum.'"The identification of 'Oosterom' with 'van Schalckwyck,' here first made, determines the Oosterom ancestor and gives the baptismal dates of two of his children, Jan and 'Trintje. Van Oosterom owned land at Flushing, L. I. (Bergen's Early Settlers, 217), and at Bergen, N. J. (Winfield's Land Titles, 69, 70, 127, 270, 272, 314)." (pub. NYG&B Record, Vol. 40, #3, p. 191.

Re Ostrander: Pieter Peterzen Ostrander's father was Pieter Carstensen, mother Geestre Jans. He was b. 3 Jul 1657 and baptized in Amsterdam, Netherlands. I have this from www.ostrander.org: A Tree of Many Branches":"The Pieter(2) Pietersen of Amsterdam who married Rebecca(3) Traphagen [Willem(2), Johannes(1)] on or about 19 January 1679 in Kingston, Ulster County, NY was the son of Pieter(1) Carstensen of Husum (or Nordstrand) and his second wife Geesje Jans of Norden... While Pieter(2) Pietersen was certainly Dutch by birth, language, custom and culture, his father’s origin appears to have been Danish or Frisian as Pieter(1) Cartsensen was first reported to be “of Husum” in 1623 and of the island “of Nordstrand” in 1654. Both communities are now part of Germany but in the 17th century they were part of the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein in the Kingdom of Denmark."

My Thomas Southard b. 1615 was indeed from Leiden, but we believe his ancestry is English, probably Devon. This is not proven, however, and we are always looking for more information. His DNA matches names Southard, Southwood and Southern. By all means, please add Southard if you think it's appropriate.

Obviously my understanding of Dutch patronymics and how to represent them is faulty. I would be very grateful for any insight that would help me convey these names better.

Thank you for your elaborate reaction. I admire your knowledge about Dutch names. There is nothing faulty about that! Impressive. As you will see I have added both names together with all others. It is a long list so I hope you will get a lot of reactions. Kind regards,Peter

Hi Jim,Thanks for visiting my blog. I have added yours to the list. Also I have taken the liberty of adding the surnames Emmens and Snyder as well. Both are probably Dutch and although Snyder is not related to you, the text in your blog post may give people a clue. I would guess that the Hendrickson name has been "americanized" just a little. In Holland it was probably Hendriks, Hendrikse or Hendriksz.In any case I hope you will get some reactions.Again, thank you for stopping by.Kind regardsPeterPS If you care to add things to my blog, e.g. city and/or state where you live, a twitter address, please do.

The Dutch Central Bureau of Genealogy (CBG)have published a book with the title 'Dutch Roots'. It is also available as e-book and that can be ordered at Amazon. Please see http://cbg-migranten.blogspot.nl/2012/06/searching-for-your-dutch-roots.html

@ljhlauraThanks for yr rescuing action, otherwise it might have travelled thru cyberspace forever ;) As you can see I have added your blog Branch and Leaf to this listing. Hope some useful contacts will develop.

Thank you so much for the listing! I was just about to let you know which of the surnames on my list came from the Netherlands, but I see that you have identified them quite correctly already. :-) Appreciate your efforts on this blog ...

Below an exchange of messages between Stacey Bastian (Bastians in Texas) and myself.

June 30, 2012Hi Stacey,I "stumbled upon" your blog via Geneabloggers. There you suggested that you have no information as to where your grgrandfather came from. When I read the name Bastian, it occurred to me that the name might be a patronymic. In the Netherlands the first name Bastiaan does exist. Also the surname Bastian is well known in Dutch archives. I even found a single entry of the surname Bastain. So I wonder whether you have some Dutch roots somewhere. Any family stories that might point in that direction? If so, I like to include your blog in mine. I am a collector of bloggers with Dutch roots. Please see http://www.patmcast.blogspot.nl/2012/05/dutch-ancestors.htmlI am curious to hear your thoughts about my theory.Peter

July 1, 2012Peter, thank you for your feedback. My problems with my great-grandfather, and the main driving force behind this blog, is that I do not know who his parents are. I have census records showing his parents as being of German birth. You have an interesting theory, and I will keep it in mind. What I have found about the surname Bastian is that most believe it originated in France or Germany, and that many scholars do not agree. I do believe my ancestors came from Germany, but until I find the correct parentage, I cannot go much further. I am definitely going to keep working on it though!Stacey

July 3, 2012Stacey, thanks for your reaction and views. Assuming you agree I have included your blog in my a.m. blog including your remark about the census records. The purpose of my blog is to provide Dutch genealogists investigating your name, with a possibility to find "disappeared" ancestors who emigrated to the States centuries ago. Peter

I landed here because my birth name is Van Zante. I've always been told it was a dutch name, but the best part, (or so I was told growing up, I have serious doubts about now), was that it is the last name of my mother's first husband! She kept the name because she liked the way it sounded with her first name, and had a better ring to it than her maiden name. They were married only about a year or two, and I came about 8 years post wedding day. She kept the name Van Zante until she passed away, and I only met the man who's the contributor to my name once when I was about 24 years old, at his mother's funeral. I was very close to her growing up... I am under the impression that Conway is an American name, if not, Irish. Even if I decide not to really investigate the family of my mother's high school sweetheart, this blog and all of your links are very useful! Most of us "caucasian" people seem to be quite the mix of the different white variants, and most definitely, the Dutch pop in to say hello on the DNA ethnicity reports! Thank you again! How awesome are you?

Hi Erin,The Van Zante name certainly sounds Dutch. One of the largest Dutch genealogical databases shows over 1,100 hits for your name. I am not an expert on neither American nor Irish names. So I don't know anything about the origin of the Conway surname. If you want to investigate your roots the best method is to collect birthdays and places of your mother, her parents etc. In Holland collecting contemporary data is the difficult part (privacy). But once you get to the early parts of the 20th century things become easier. If you have further questions let me know.Peter

@Ginny, Thanks for visiting my blog. The idea behind it is to enable Dutch persons to connect with (possible) descendants of emigrated people with the same surname. The blog may also be useful for American people to find related persons in the USA. Unfortunately I don't have any VanEpps persons among my ancestors...